Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 1,875 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,869 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,875 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PM. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,711,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,715,237,000 after purchasing an additional 224,840 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,101,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,818,000 after buying an additional 621,034 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,168,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,094 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,000,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,752,000 after acquiring an additional 376,406 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Philip Morris International by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,430,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,957,000 after acquiring an additional 469,806 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.35.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Philip Morris International stock opened at $121.88 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.82 and a fifty-two week high of $134.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.19. The stock has a market cap of $189.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 117.94% and a net margin of 10.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. Philip Morris International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.71%.

Insider Activity at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 95,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,402,431.64. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 959,761 shares in the company, valued at $124,624,965.85. This trade represents a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.